Torture and the Bush Defenders

So far, I’ve been reluctant to enter the torture debate. That’s not because it isn’t important (it is) or because I’m unsure of my views (I oppose torture). Rather, this issue has encouraged the tendency of the blogosphere to generate more heat than light. The public . . . . Continue Reading »

The Man of the Crowd at the Inauguration

Edgar Allan Poe’s bicentennial birthday passed unremarked by this publication January 19. For the most part I considered Poe useful mainly as a horrible example of how not to write. Every so often, though, something characteristic took shape in his odd imagination. One of his lesser-known . . . . Continue Reading »